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#The Margin: A shower of stuffed animals: Watch Turkish soccer fans pelt the pitch with toys for kids affected by devastating quakes

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“The Margin: A shower of stuffed animals: Watch Turkish soccer fans pelt the pitch with toys for kids affected by devastating quakes”

Sports fans generally are not supposed to throw objects onto the field of play. But Sunday was different.

In a touching display of sympathy and charity, fans of the Turkish soccer club Beşiktaş on Sunday pelted the pitch with thousands of stuffed animals and other soft toys for children affected by the devastating earthquakes that have left nearly 50,000 dead in southeastern Turkey and northern Syria.

The club had asked fans to bring toy donations to the match, and many of the 40,000 in attendance at Istanbul’s Vodafone Park did just that, as the match was paused at the 4:17 mark — commemorating the time of the initial Feb. 6 quake.

Among those who died in the quakes was Ghanaian soccer star Christian Atsu, who played for Turkish club Hatayspor in the city of Antakya, in southern Turkey.

Throwing toys on the field for young quake victims is apparently a bit of a tradition for Beşiktaş fans, who reportedly did so previously in 2011.

Sunday’s match between Beşiktaş and Antalyaspor had been rescheduled after their November match was postponed due to a terrorist attack in Istanbul.

Mike Murphy

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